I Regret
by dragongirl5k5
Summary: He always made me worry, even on the day of my excecution. We promised that we would live a live the way we wanted. We said we would live a life at sea with no regrets. We would always be brothers, dead or alive, realated or not.


This is my first One Piece story! For my first one, I decided to do a brother fic from Ace's point of view. I love their brother relationship so I thought this would be fun to write. Tell me what you guys think. Reviews would be appreciated! All flames will be sent to Ace.

**Disclaimer:**I do not own One Piece. Eichiro Oda does.

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No matter what happened, Luffy would always be my brother.

He was an incredible fighter and a remarkable captain. No one would have expected such greatness from him. Well...except maybe for him and Shanks.

Shanks. His little brother's hero, the one who gave him his trademark hat. But Ace himself had some mixed feelings for the famous pirate. On one hand, he was happy that his brother had a good father figure in his life. He respected Shanks as a pirate and he was a decent man.

And yet, there had been a few instances where he hadn't liked him at all. When Luffy had stabbed himself, almost taking his eye in the process, and left that scar there he had been pretty upset.

Not only that but the idiot captain hadn't been able to prevent his the seven year old from eating the devil's fruit. Thereby causing him to turn into a rubber boy. The captain was extra careful to avoid the ten year old's wrath after that incident.

Then he had a reson to thank the older man. He had saved Luffy's life from that sea king, and lost his arm in the process. He was extremely grateful to the brave pirate.

He remembered that he had been out doing chores when a kid from the village rushed over to him. The boy wailed something about a bandit taking his brother, but before he could finish his message Ace was already heading for the shore.

He had feared he would be all too late, but luckily fate was on their side. He arrived to see his sobbing brother latched onto the bleeding, one-armed pirate.

Makino was trying to comfort the child while Ben was trying to pry him off his wounded captain. But the little boy just didn't want to budge.

"Luffy!" He yelled. His brother turned his tear-stricken head for a moment to look at him. Finally, he allowed himself to pulled away by his older brother.

"Heh, this doesn't look too good does it Ace?" Shanks commented with a sheepish grin. Ace gave a minor glare.

"Damn right!" I spat. I let out a low sigh and looked down at my precious baby brother. "But you saved Luffy so....Thank you." I said graciously.

He smiled and was then taken away to be treated. My little brother looked up at me, his eyes wide with worry. "Will Shanks be okay?" He asked with a sniffle.

"Of course he will." I said with no doubt evident in my voice. My brother instantly believed me and I felt him let out a shaky breath of relief.

I was just glad he was okay. Because I was his big brother, he was my little brother. I was supposed to protect him and I did. None of the other kids dared bully him if I was around. Once though a few older boys had decided to beat up his innocent brother. He had certainly taught them a lesson afterwards though.

"Otouto, why do you let them do this to you?" I demanded.

"If I tried to fight 'em it wouldn't be fair. I've got super cool powers and they don't. I don't wanna hurt them." Luffy answered.

It was a child's explanation, and yet it sounded so much wiser. Perhaps the world has forgotten the pure, wholesome ways of forgiveness.

"Nii-san, I'm not a freak am I?" His brother asked suddenly. Ace was completely taken aback by the question and then felt his instincts kick in. He leaned down and put a hand on the nine year old's shoulder.

"No, your not. What brought all this on?" He asked. Luffy shrugged, obviously not wanting to talk about it.

"Did one of those guys call you one?" His brother said nothing and that served as a yes.

"Don't listen to them Luffy. Just 'cause you ate the devil's fruit that doesn't mean you're a freak." I tried to explain.

"Then why did they call me one?" Luffy asked. In all Ace's twelve years he wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Well....I think that might be because they don't understand. And what people don't understand scares them. Fear is something that makes people do stupid things."

"Oh...thanks Nii-san! I feel a lot better now!" He said cheerfully. I smiled and ruffled his hair. His brother was always so forgiving and playful.

In all honesty, he doesn't no why anyone would want to harm his brother. He was a cute little boy with a pure smile, ebony hair, and curious, wide eyes. Above all that he was friendly and very kind. Although he had a tendency to get in trouble, he never had menacing intentions, he just wasn't very bright.

That's what scared him. His brother was a little on the slow side and was too knieve and trusting. And that could end up getting him badly hurt, physically or mentally.

I think my brother had something special that draws people near him. A child like mind that was fascinated with the simplicity of things. He wasn't very smart and was quite the little idiots. He could get you angry by doing immensely stupid things, but you couldn't stay mad at him for very long.

He could make just about anyone laugh. And his wide smile made up for his playfull annoyance. In all he was a brave, kind-hearted, good-natured boy with strong hopes and dreams.

That's probably why his crew would stick with him trough anything. They were always loyal to him no matter what.

He was so proud of his younger brother. He had become such a powerful pirate, but with power came responsibility. His brother's bounty was as high as ever and other pirates were anxious to fight him.

Luffy was more than capable of taking care of himself, he just could help worrying about him though. No matter what Luffy was still just his kid brother.

Yes, it's true. Strawhat Luffy, the famous rubber man, one who had stared death in the face many times, was only seventeen. Pretty young for such a reputation.

He's become one of the greatest enemies to the the World Government. Just like his father.... But I'm not going to get into that subject.

But no matter how many foes he defeats, how powerful and famous he becomes, or how much he achieves; he'll always be my little brother. He's still just that same idiot brother that makes his older one worry.

But that's always the big problem. He's always doing things that make me worry. And it can really aggrivate you sometimes.

Like right now. I'm only a few, short hours away from my excecution. Once they through me in Impel Down, I accepted my fate. That is, until I heard that a certain strawhat pirate had broken into Impel Down.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why would he break into the prison that no one has ever broken out of?! And all to save me...

And that's when my rage turns into guilt. He was only coming here because he doesn't want to see his older brother die. Why couldn't they understand that?

It doesn't matter what side people are on anymore. There is no good or evil. Because everybody has different points of view and different reasons to fight.

Who says all Marines are good, and who said all Pirates were evil? That's just not how it is anymore. Because if you're willing to kill a boy who is risking his life to save someone close to him, doesn't that make you the bad guy?

I don't want him to save me, I don't want him to risk his life for me. That just means he'll die for no good reason. In my mind I'm yelling for him to stay away but I guess he doesn't get the message.

If he dies what will happen to his crew? What about all his dreams? What about becoming the Pirate King? Would he be willing to give all his hopes and chances up for one person? I sighed. Of course he would; he's Luffy.

I feel so helpless! All I can to is wait for the outcome to unfold. I just hope I die before he does;no wait, _if_ he does.

It doesn't matter whether we _are_ or _aren't _biologically related. I raised him with no parents, so I could care less if we have the same.

I've lived a good life; being apart of the Whitebeard Pirates, mastering my devil fruit powers, all my successful eat 'n runs. I told Luffy when we were young that we should live the way we want. I wanted us to live a life with no regrets. We've done that so far....until now.

I wish I could've beaten Blackbeard, but I guess that can't be helped. I didn't want to die just yet, but I've accepted my fate. The only thing I truly regret is that my little brother might die right along with me.

I guess we all get a bit sentimental before we die. It give us time to reflect on how we've live our lives. It reminds us that we're not invincible, and that the world is cruel and life is hard.

But we keep living anyway, because we have things to live for. We have our hopes, our dreams, our goals, and our nakama to live for. I think that's why people like my brother have such a great will to live.

I walk up the tall staircase with pride. This will be my last day on earth. Me, the famous Fire Fist Ace, will be excecute at the Marine Headquarters. Not knowing that a ship of escaped prisoners are sailing here as we speak. I didn't realize how determined Luffy was to stop this. The moment draws closer as each second passes.

And I regret.....

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And there it is. Might not have been one of my best stories, but I think it turned out all right. I apologize for any mistakes or OCC-ness. Don't forget to review!


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